I always feel hungry!!!

I must admit that after having read some of the other posts on this forum I feel somewhat guilty comlaining about this.

To begin, I was diagnosed with stomach cancer (Stage 1B) mid last year (aged 53 then).  After 9 weeks of chemo, I had a total gastrectomy followed by another 9 weeks of chemo.  I have got through 2 scans & all is clear (so far).

My weight went from a pre-diagnosis level of 82kgs to my current level of 73kgs.  I maintain a healthy lifestyle - regular gym goer & 200-250kms per week on the bike.

I eat reasonably well, although I have to be very careful with sugary or high-carb foods (dumping).  My "problem" is that I never feel "full", unless I gorge myself to the point of feeling sick.  This is really only a problem at night, when I find it difficult to get to sleep because of these hunger pains.

My surgeon & oncologist just say this is "most unusual" - that really helps!

Has anyone else had this experience?  If so, any tips on fixing it (other than sleeping tablets)?

Regards

Alex

Hi AlexM

It sounds to me that you are doing exceptionally well.  If you have an appetite and are feeling well, why not continue to eat well, exercising and enjoying life.  My husband who is struggling to gain at least 1 kg to save his life would give anything to have an appetite.  My husband is so weak, he is only at 48.6 kgs – I am trying to come with all different ways to get calories into him.

My advice to you is to stay on a healthy well balanced diet and live life to the fullest.

Stay well

Maria

It is a good sign that you have good appetite especially when you want to gain weight.  It also depends on how much you can eat each meal and a day.  Most of Stage 1B patients doesn't need chemo at all.

How much do you eat ( solid and liquid oz )in a meal and how much in a day?  Do you gain weight, loss weight or steady now?

Wow, that really is "most unusual". You should not even feel hunger being post-total gastrectomy!

 My husband is also post total gastrectomy (soon to be age 53) but he never feels hunger, but eats all the time because for one, he loves food, and secondly, if he does not he becomes very hypoglycemic. He does have several signs of "needing to eat" aside from actual hunger pangs.

I really don't have any advice or ideas other than have you tried to just eat very frequently rather than so much at a time?

Perhaps try eating something heavier in the evening, something that takes longer to digest, such as a pasta type meal or even oatmeal before going to bed.  My husband eats all the time and cannot get his weight above 120 pounds (he was 155 before surgery.) Last year during his remission he actually got back up to 145 pounds and felt great. As long as he is on chemo he cannot put any weight on, despite eating a super high fat and high calorie diet.

There are so many things about this disease and its treatments that cause different problems for different people that the solutions are so very hard to find,  but I wish you luck in finding your solution.

Blessings,

Lis

Thanks for your reply.

I neglected to mention in my original post that I live in Australia.  From my research it appaers that treatment in different countries varies widely.  The "standard" treatment here is chemo then surgery then more chemo (following a French method called the "magic" protocol).  I wasn't even given the option of a partial gastrectomy because of my type of cancer (cygnet).

Anyway, back to the eating.  I eat pretty much 5-6 times per day & I have 2 "main" meals - lunch & dinner.  These meals tend to be "normal" size.  I get by at other times with fruit (especially bananas) & power bars.

In terms of weight, I ended up at 71kgs (156lbs).  I slowly put on weight after my chemo finished in March this year & got to about 75kgs (165lbs) in May, when I had a major bike accident (broke my collarbone, 9 ribs, 2 pelvic fractures & a punctured lung).  I dropped back to about 71 kgs but I've slowly started increasing my weight again, where I'm almost back to 75kgs.

I realise that I am one of the lucky ones.

My only issue is a difficulty sleeping with the "empty" feeling.  I don't want to take sleeping pills.  I have tried various things including eating just before going to bed, but nothing seems to work.  I am surviving (I suppose I should be grateful for that) on 2-4 hours sleep a night, but that is starting to take its toll.

I have had problems with feeling hungry even though I have just eaten, unless I gorge myself too.  It disturbs my sleep several times a night.  I finally went to the Dr. He checked to see if I had ulcers which I didn't.  He didn't know what was going on but prescribed "Aciphex" for me.  After 1 dosage, I felt normal again and was able to sleep all night long without having to get up to eat something.  Since I don't have insurance I wasn't able to stay on the prescription when I needed a refill as it is very expensive.  Sometimes Pepto Bismol works, but I'm sure I am abusing it since I take it several times a day on almost a daily basis.  I am hoping to find something natural that will work though.  I do know that sugar and high carb foods seem to make it worse!